Chapter 20: The Fall of Sanhe Fortress

In the Western Regions, it gets dark late and dawn comes late too.

The Chen hour (7-9 AM) was already mostly past, and the sun in the Northern Border had just risen.

After a peaceful night, Hexi Fortress gradually became bustling. The sounds of clanging work and shouting while feeding livestock rang out in the village.

If one ignored the reality of the Karluk rebellion, Hexi Fortress at this moment looked completely like a paradise, with villagers living a quiet and peaceful life.

At the Li home, Li Xiao also woke up. He glanced at Erhu beside him, who was lying sprawled out in the shape of a large character ‘大’.

Two arms and two legs were pressing on Li Xiao and Dahu on the other side respectively.

“Damn, no wonder I dreamed of being pinned down by a female ghost!” Li Xiao muttered, cursing.

He couldn’t help but look down. Young men are full of fire, but fortunately, there was no awkwardness.

Although he didn’t see the female ghost’s face clearly in the dream, her figure was really nice.

Li Xiao was involuntarily paying tribute to her!

“Maybe getting a wife wouldn’t be bad~” Li Xiao adjusted his shorts, which had been poked askew in his dream, thinking secretly.

People in this era married relatively early; many married at fifteen or sixteen.

Li Xiao was considering whether to compromise with Qin Da Ni and the old lady?

Whether a lolita or a young married woman, it would be more comfortable than sleeping in the same bed with these two idiots.

Li Xiao shook his head gently. The threat of the Karluks was still hanging over their heads; finding a wife would have to be pushed back.

“Get up.”

Li Xiao kicked Erhu’s butt.

Erhu opened his hazy eyes with a confused expression. He had just dreamed of a sheep butting his butt.

“We’re going to cut grass today, store as much fodder as possible,” Li Xiao said to Dahu and Erhu.

When autumn arrived, nomadic herdsmen would harvest pasture grass and store it as fodder for cattle and sheep in winter.

Although it was summer now, Karluk cavalry could come to Hexi Fortress at any time. If they continued to graze in the pasture as before, it would be dangerous once Karluk cavalry attacked.

So the people of Hexi Fortress would go to the pasture to cut grass these few days, cart it back, and store it for the livestock to eat.

If they really encountered a Karluk attack, they could directly abandon the carts and ride back.

“Oh~ okay.”

Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Erhu was stunned for a few seconds before getting up along with Dahu.

Each washed their face with clear water in the yard, then started eating breakfast.

They ate leftover horse meat from last night, accompanied by some millet porridge.

Li Xiao also had Dahu send three portions of the same breakfast to the yard next door.

Xiao Yanyan had paid for the meals, so she had to be treated well.

Just as Li Xiao’s family was eating, Li Dashan suddenly ran over in a hurry.

“Uncle, come quickly and have a look, Dawu, Little Heizi and the others are back.”

Hearing this, the Old Master stood up abruptly, looking excitedly at Li Dashan.

“What?”

“Back?”

“How many people came back?”

The Old Master’s movement startled the old lady, who hurriedly supported him and said angrily: “Be careful, don’t burst your wound open.”

But the Old Master seemed not to have heard, staring straight at Li Dashan, hoping to hear good news from him.

“Twenty-eight came back,” Li Dashan said.

“Twenty-eight?” The Old Master murmured softly, somewhat disappointed, yet somewhat happy.

“Good, it’s good that another twenty-eight came back,” the Old Master said with slight excitement.

One hundred able-bodied men went to the Northern Mountains to suppress the Karluk rebellion, and previously only six had returned.

Fortunately, Li Xiao comforted him, saying the people of Hexi Fortress were likely just scattered, and others must still be on their way back.

And now, another twenty-eight had returned.

It was a good thing.

“What about Erjiang? Did Erjiang come back?” the old lady asked impatiently, and Dahu also looked at Li Dashan with hope.

“Auntie, Brother Erjiang didn’t come back!” Li Dashan’s voice became lower.

Hearing this, the expectation on the old lady’s face instantly turned into disappointment, and she sat down slowly.

In the past few days, her tears had run dry; now she only hoped her second son could return soon.

Li Xiao comforted her: “Grandma, we still have hope.”

“Second Uncle is definitely fine. Maybe to avoid Karluk detection, he needs to take a detour to come back!”

“He’ll be back in a few days.”

Although the old lady knew Li Xiao was comforting her, she forced a smile and said: “Yes, there are Karluks everywhere outside now. Maybe Erjiang is hiding somewhere!”

This was the old lady’s only spiritual sustenance. She could only use this reason to constantly hypnotize herself to get through the daily suffering.

Soon, the Old Master, Li Xiao, and the others didn’t even have time to finish their meal before hurriedly leaving the house and walking toward the village entrance.

At the place where villagers shared horse meat last night, the ashes of the bonfire were still emitting residual heat. More and more Hexi Fortress villagers learned the news and ran over hurriedly.

Standing in the middle of the open space was a group of men in ragged clothes, their faces full of grime and their bodies filthy.

Everyone’s clothes were stained with coagulated blood and dirt, tattered, and the sheepskin jackets worn outside looked as if they had been washed in mud.

Some even had bandaged wounds and were very weak.

As more and more villagers arrived, some of them staggered and rushed urgently in front of these men.

“Wuwuwuwu~”

“My son~ Heier, you finally came back. Wuwuwu, Mom thought she would never see you again in this life.”

“Husband, I thought you didn’t want us anymore!”

“Dad, you’re not dead? Still alive~”

The village entrance of Hexi Fortress soon turned into a family reunion meeting.

These returning able-bodied men gathered with their families, having endless words to say and endless tears to shed.

While those villagers who didn’t wait for their relatives looked disappointed, watching the scene of family reunions before them with envy.

“Don’t laugh at my drunken stupor on the battlefield; since ancient times, how many have returned from war?”

Looking at the scene before him, Li Xiao couldn’t help but murmur softly.

No matter when, war is cruel.

But born in this chaotic world where the strong rule, no one can avoid conflict, unless one is willing to become someone else’s slave and be bullied all one’s life.

In Hexi Fortress, everyone could accept the outcome of dying in battle. Even before this expedition, many had prepared to die.

But what they couldn’t accept was meaningless death.

In this Battle of the Northern Mountains, due to the Khitan’s improper command, nearly every family in Hexi Fortress almost wore mourning.

Such a disastrous defeat that shouldn’t have happened was also the reason for the anger and dissatisfaction of many Hexi people.

So Li Xiao also silently summarized the lessons from this war, trying his best to avoid the same thing happening in the future.

“Military affairs are of vital importance to the state, a matter of life and death, the road to survival or ruin, and must not be neglected!”

Watching everyone reunite at the village entrance, the Old Master’s face also showed gentle relief and rejoicing.

Although Li Erjiang and most of the able-bodied men of Hexi Fortress didn’t return, twenty-eight coming back meant avoiding twenty-eight family tragedies, which was also a good thing.

And those twenty-eight returnees, seeing the Old Master arrive, also wore expressions of silence and grief.

“Fortress Lord, we are back.”

Standing at the very front of this group was a middle-aged man surnamed Wu, the eldest in his family, called Dawu.

He looked at the Old Master, pursed his lips, and spoke with a trembling voice.

His expression was downcast, and his eyes were full of moisture.

Behind him, these twenty-odd people were the same; some were even sobbing in low voices.

“Good that you’re back!”

“Good that you’re back.” The Old Master kept nodding, exhaled gently, and said happily.

Next, the Old Master asked about some important matters and then sent these people home.

“Go back and rest first, have a good meal, and get some sleep.”

“Yes, Fortress Lord.”

Dawu, Little Heizi, and others nodded gently and went home individually.

The surrounding villagers also returned one after another. At this moment, the atmosphere in the village was no longer as depressing as before.

The return of these twenty-eight able-bodied men gave the other villagers a bit more expectation and confidence.

“Grandma, knowing Second Uncle is still alive, you should be happy.”

Li Xiao looked at the old lady beside him who was constantly wiping tears and said softly.

Just now, Dawu and the others also told everyone a piece of news.

Li Erjiang was indeed hit by a few arrows initially, but none were in vital spots.

Later, leading a group of able-bodied men from Hexi Fortress and carrying Li Da Hai’s body, he broke out of the Karluk encirclement in the chaos.

It was just that they encountered Karluk pursuit later, and Dawu’s group got separated from Li Erjiang’s group.

So, Li Erjiang was most likely alive.

After learning this news, the old lady was naturally happy, and tears flowed from her dry eyes again.

“Happy, I am very happy.”

The old lady said with a trembling voice while wiping her tears.

After returning home, the three Li brothers pulled two horse carts and left the village.

Heading to the pasture in the north to cut grass.

For a whole day, the three Li brothers went back and forth seven or eight times, finally cutting almost enough fodder.

“After cutting this cart of fodder, it’s enough for the cattle, sheep, and horses at home to eat for five or six days.” Erhu put down the sickle in his hand and threw a stack of tightly bound fodder onto the cart.

At this time, the cart was full of these stacks of compacted hay, more than a person’s height; they loaded as much as they could.

Saving transportation time.

“Five or six days pass in a flash. Don’t know when the Karluk rebellion will end.” Dahu said softly.

“Next time it might not be so easy to come out and cut grass.”

Hearing this, Li Xiao stood on the cart, gazing into the distance, and said calmly: “It’s also possible that the Karluk rebellion won’t last a few days, and next time we can drive the cattle and sheep out to graze.”

While speaking, Li Xiao’s gaze remained fixed on the distance.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the originally green grassland turned golden yellow, speckled and very spectacular.

But vaguely, a few small black dots could be seen appearing in the distance.

“Someone is coming.”

Erhu also noticed that place, subconsciously ran to his horse, and drew the saber from the saddle.

“Are they Karluks?” Dahu asked softly.

Li Xiao shook his head gently, signaling Erhu not to be so nervous.

“Doesn’t look like Karluks.”

As the few black dots became clearer, their figures also became more familiar. Dahu suddenly shouted: “It’s Third Grandpa.”

“They’re back.”

Li Xiao and the other two quickly went to meet them.

“Third Grandpa~”

“Whoa~”

Third Grandpa and the few Hexi able-bodied men behind him slowly reined in their horses.

“Third Grandpa, didn’t you go to contact other villages? How did it go?” Li Xiao asked loudly.

Although Third Grandpa still subconsciously treated Li Xiao as a child, thinking that Li Xiao had now become the Hexi Fortress Lord…

And had begun to take over the affairs of Hexi Fortress. Thus, he looked at Li Xiao with a solemn face and said:

“Da Long, hurry back to the village.”

“Sanhe Fortress has already been breached by the Karluks.”

“What?”

Hearing this, the three Li brothers all looked shocked.

(End of this chapter)